While the Aaron Swartz prosecution has gotten a ton of negative press, some of it justified, relatively little has been said about why what he did was wrong. I respect his taking a stand for what he believed in; however, the belief in question — that data should be available for free to everyone — is not only naive but ultimately dangerous to a creative society.

It costs money to produce content, no matter what that content is, and a generation that has grown up expecting something for nothing is likely to get what it pays for.

Science, art, music, journalism, theater, and literature require human beings to create it, and these humans need to eat. When you devalue their work, you discourage it.